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Bring it on!

Originally Posted by ryan_the_furnace_guy

hope we don't find you both on the internet with your heads being cut off with plastic sporks!!!!!!

Sorry, Would just like to do something really important before joining my wife who passed away from lung cancer. Besides I'm still pissed about 9/11 and haven't gotten over the fall of Saigon either. This country was great until the Democrat Party pussys took over!

Wtf

I am currently working in Iraq for KBR. I live on a military base as does every other KBR employee in Iraq. Not a single KBR employee lives anywhere else but on a military base and those of us in the HVAC field are not required to go "outside the wire" as we say.

Originally Posted by arpa

No one is allowed to carry weapons over there, civilian wise, unless you are in or part of a special security detail. And, very few are in this category.

Other rules:
Drugs, see ya in the next life.
No pornography..Vogue magazine is considered pornography.
No booze.

Of course there is a huge black market..even on the military bases. But, if a civilian gets caught, you're on the next thing going stateside, and forfeit any and all pay.

Random searches are conducted all the time.

Realize if you go KBR or one of the other big guys, you do not live on the military base, and have no armed escorts....

hope we don't find you both on the internet with your heads being cut off with plastic sporks!!!!!!

Actually, those that you seen on TV either worked for a different company or were KBR Truck Drivers. KBR HVAC guys do not go outside the wire. You work on a secure military installation for the most part. And in some rare cases you could work here for a whole year contract and never see an Iraqi.

Yes, you are right, but most of the KBR employees I met were off base, or had to travel off base, alot.

Also, what is not mentioned is, as I have seen quite a few contracts, is medical insurance, workers comp and death benifits. Pay particular attention to those clauses as there is fine print so to speak.

What bases were you on over there? If you ever ate with the Marines and out of the kitchens set up in the field, I or one of my techs were there.

I have been stationed at Anaconda, Al Taqaddum, Liberty, Kalsu, and right now I am at Iskandariyah. TQ was the only marine base but we were eating in a large tent by the time I arrived in 05. I have been here since 04 and I have not known of a single KBR person living anywhere but a military installation. Now if they were a KBR BRS employee as opposed to a KBR SEII employee I could be wrong. I am currently a KBR SEII employee. Also, I came here in late 04. I heard it was alot rougher in 03.

how much experience does kbr ask for?
how long did the hiring process take?
what kind of equipment do you work on?
where do you sleep at, tent or cabin?
Must be a nice set up if you have internet acess.

how much experience does kbr ask for?
how long did the hiring process take?
what kind of equipment do you work on?
where do you sleep at, tent or cabin?
Must be a nice set up if you have internet acess.

I can't remember how much they ask for but 5 years seems to sound right. But most important is the CFC universal card. They don't seem to be to selective from my perspective. I have met alot of lousy HVAC mechanics. Met some really great ones too in the 3 years I have been here.

Hiring process takes 7 to 14 days but could take longer (took me 3 weeks because the flying in was shut down during the attack on fallujah in 04). You process in Houston Texas. They don't pay you while there but put you up in a hotel and feed you.

I work on package units, window units, mini splits. Some bases have chillers, ice plants, reefers and there is a construction outfit.

I sleep in my own trailer with shower and toilet but that varies from base to base. KBR also has the contract in Afghanistan and they are all in tents there.

How many techs can be assigned to a base, is there such a thing as a big job and if there is do you have other techs there to help you out?

Every base is different. My base has 2 tech's and 6 helpers(Pakistani and Indian guys). My base is one of the smallest bases. A big base could have 15 techs and 40 helpers. It just depends on the size of the base. A big job at my base is like installing 48 package units and 25 split units on these tents here. I didnt get any extra help but I have had 3 months to complete the task. There is a construction HVAC team at the main base but construction could be installing window units in trailers or duct work and package units on a hard structure. Basically, you would never be overworked except for emergencies.

Poll results interesting!

The poll is closing soon and it looks like more who voted believe we owe as much moral debt to others world-wide …… as we do to our fellow Americans ….. so we would go there as Cosmopolitans primarily to help the Iraqi people achieve Democracy. The root word ‘patr’ in Patriotic refers to “father” as in our “Fatherland” so we would go there as Patriots primarily to help protect the people of our own country from the threat of more attacks at home by helping defeat in Iraq promoting Global Terrorism. Maybe both reasons are equally valid!……….. any comments?

Every base is different. My base has 2 tech's and 6 helpers(Pakistani and Indian guys). My base is one of the smallest bases. A big base could have 15 techs and 40 helpers. It just depends on the size of the base. A big job at my base is like installing 48 package units and 25 split units on these tents here. I didnt get any extra help but I have had 3 months to complete the task. There is a construction HVAC team at the main base but construction could be installing window units in trailers or duct work and package units on a hard structure. Basically, you would never be overworked except for emergencies.